


Steve Versus Hobbies

by Neverever



Series: Steve Rogers, 21st Century Sports Fan [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Historical Reenactment, Hobbies, radio-controlled airplanes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-15 21:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1320061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carol takes Steve to a radio-controlled airplane event.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steve Versus Hobbies

Surveying the local radio-controlled airplane club meeting and Fun Fly crowd at the park, Carol sipped her coffee and analyzed the late April Saturday’s flying conditions. The RC fliers were definitely an ambitious crowd, she concluded, considering the wind. It was immense fun watching them flying their planes, but she was here on business. “So, Steve, do you see a guy selling planes?” she asked.

Looking spiffy in a blue windbreaker and holding a Starbucks coffee cup, Steve frowned. “I can’t really tell the difference between people fixing planes or showing off their planes or selling planes.” He checked his coffee cup with a look of disappointment and tossed the cup into a nearby trash can. “Why are we here again?”

“I’m trying to buy a plane for my neighbor Isaac. He’s part of my cat-feeding ring and he took care of Chewie when she was sick. I figure I can buy a plane for a guy who cleaned up cat vomit for a couple of days and didn’t complain.” She really owed Isaac, who even had stayed up with the orange tabby.

“Cat-feeding ring?”

“Oh, you know, a group of people who provide mutual aid, care and food for cats when a member goes on vacation or has to fight aliens. That sort of thing. It’s very helpful.” Carol pulled out her phone to check her email. “All I got is that the guy I’m meeting would be selling planes and parts and that I couldn’t miss him.”

Carol had asked Steve to come along on her trip to the park at the spur of the moment because Steve was usually good company, and she thought he might find the RC event interesting. She promised him lunch after they picked up the model plane. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, unzipped her jacket now that it was warmer, and finished her coffee. Although it was enjoyable watching flying RC airplanes out on a warmish spring day, Carol firmly believed that flying under her power anytime was the best.

They stopped to watch event organizers put the finishing touches to painting lines and circles on the park field. “Huh, they’re going to do a bomb drop,” Carol observed.

“Bomb drop?”

“It’s a competition – just like a real bombing run, but without the instrumentation. You have to drop a ball on a target.” She explained how the balls were attached to the plane and how the controller maneuvered the plane by lowering the elevator or flying a loop to drop the ball on the target. Points were awarded for accuracy.

Steve smiled. “Sounds like something you’re familiar with.”

Carol chuckled. “I dabbled in RC airplanes when I was a kid. I’ve always been in love with flying and RC planes were a gateway drug.” Kid Carol would have killed to participate in a bomb drop competition with her biplane model. And to be honest, Adult Carol too. “I’m rusty, though. Takes practice to fly well. But I’d give them a run for their money if given the chance.”

They continued their search for Carol’s guy. Steve ran across a group of adults and kids watching a man flying a helicopter model. Steve was clearly fascinated. Carol said, “Helicopters are particularly hard to fly.”

“Helicopters are amazing,” Steve said. “Like how they can hover in the air where you need them.”

Carol nudged him. “This from the guy who flies a quinjet on a regular basis?”

He shrugged. “Helicopters were new for me when I woke up.”

“Wait. You didn’t have helicopters in World War Two? I thought – “

“There were experimental helicopters before the war and a few around at the end. But I never made it to the Pacific theatre, so I never saw one in operation.”

“Poor baby. You got Bonnie and Clyde, but no helicopters.”

Steve reached into his pocket to retrieve a protein bar. “So, would you consider flying RC planes a sport?” 

Seeing Steve eat his snack reminded Carol that she owed Steve lunch. And probably soon. Steve got an edge to him when he didn’t eat for a while. “I don’t know – it’s a fun, hobby thing. You can get competitive with racing and acrobatics, I guess. But you know, they call it a Fun Fly for a reason.”

“Peter has been trying to convince me that video games are real sports. I’m not exactly buying it.”

“Ah, no,” Carol said decisively. “I mean, you can turn anything into a competition. Anyone visiting the Tower can see that – we have people who are into competitive scientific data collection. But I think an activity needs something else to be called a sport, like rules and action and organized competition. Otherwise, everyone’s hobby ends up being called a sport. And that’s not why people have hobbies. Hobbies are fun and relaxation.”

“So why buy an already built airplane? Isn’t half the fun building the plane?” Steve asked.

“I think flying is much more fun. You can jump right into flying your plane with a finished model. I’m not into the building-the-model side of things,” Carol asserted.

They watched a man and his daughter fly a Sopwith Camel plane. The ten-year-old girl was handling the RC controller like a champ and flying the biplane in loops. Steve was entranced. “I built a Sopwith Camel model when I was a kid.”

“You had those back then?” Carol teased.

Steve smiled and shook his head. “I had a couple of kits. At Christmas, the nuns gave the other boys balls, bats, and gloves, and me, the skinny asthmatic kid, got the models and the art supplies. It was the models or stamp collecting. I liked drawing better than building.”

Then he asked, “Hey, is that your guy?” He pointed to a man in a Yankees cap talking with another man as they inspected an airplane very carefully.

“Yes, it is,” Carol said. “Hi! Dave? I’m Carol – I emailed you about the Corsair,” she said to the man.

“Carol! Nice to meet you,” Dave said. He reached down below the picnic table and lifted up a beautifully painted model. “So what do you think?”

“It’s great,” Carol said. She began to inspect the model. “You said that the electronics were intact?”

“That’s a Vought F4U Corsair,” Steve said, perplexed. 

“Yes,” Dave said proudly. “I just finished restoring it. I went with a 1944 paint job.”

“Accurate, Steve?” Carol joked.

“Yeah, it’s very good. All it needs is a name,” Steve said. He had a strange expression on his face.

“I thought I’d leave that to the next owner. You could even paint a picture of a pin-up girl on the nose if you were ambitious.” Dave put a shopping bag with the controller and some additional parts next to the plane. “You’re interested in World War Two?” he asked Steve.

“Um, I know a lot about the war.”

Dave turned to Carol. “Just to remind you -- I’ve reduced the price on the model since it was in a wreck. I’ve replaced a few parts but it’s solid through and through.”

“That’s fine -- I just need something that flies. But what’s the story behind the wreck?”

Dave continued, “A woman bought it for her husband, and let’s just put this way, he wasn’t a natural with the controller. I remember he was a World War Two re-enactor and she thought this would be a good gift.” He shook his head.

“World War Two re-enactor?” Steve queried with an incredulous look on his face.

“You know, just like the Civil War re-enactors, but not as common. There was a great big World War Two re-enactment event last summer somewhere out by St. Louis, even included three Sherman tanks and a Captain America re-enactor. A buddy of mine went and really enjoyed it.”

Carol handed over the money for the plane. “Thanks, Dave.”

“Have fun with it!”

“It’s a gift for a friend, Isaac Rosenberg,” Carol said cheerfully.

Dave broadly smiled. “Isaac? I know him – he used to come to club meetings all the time. Tell him we all miss him and hope he comes to a meeting soon.”

“Sure will,” Carol said as Steve picked up the plane and bag. “So, about lunch? I know a burger place around the corner. Big servings.”

“Um, yeah, sure,” Steve replied distractedly. He seemed rattled for some reason.

On their way to lunch, Carol realized that she had the perfect Christmas or birthday or “hey, we totally didn’t die today” gift for Steve – a basic RC helicopter kit. She smiled in anticipation of Steve opening the present. She could show him some tricks when they flew it. 

Steve seemed a bit subdued while they waited for lunch. “No one told me about World War Two re-enacting,” he said. “What is it exactly?”

Carol thought for a minute. “There were a couple of guys I knew in the Air Force that were into Civil War reenacting. They would dress up as Union soldiers and go out on the weekends and re-enact battles. They really studied the war and the uniforms and wanted to get everything period accurate. The events would even have a Lee or a Grant or other major historical figure. World War Two re-enacting is the same thing. Except they have Captain America re-enactors.”

Steve clearly looked uncomfortable with the idea. “I don’t know what to call it, but I don’t think re-enacting is a sport,” he eventually stated. “But they must enjoy it to go through all that effort.”

“Hobbies are fun, Steve,” Carol said. “It’s all about fun. Challenging yourself, developing skills, meeting other people who have the same interest.”

That drew a smile out of a now-relaxed Steve. “So, would you like me to paint a pin-up on your plane?” he offered. “I have a hobby too, you know.”


End file.
